When darkness falls
by Akantia
Summary: In the planes of Astra an ancient evil stirs. An evil that would cover Equestria in darkness starting with a kingdom by the name of Rethien. The fabled Britannia has been captured and tortured by a figment of this evil. She is one of the only ponies who could possibly stop this evil from plunging equestria into an age of darkness and pain.


Equestria. A land of peace, harmony, love and magic. A place where nothing is impossible, everypony is free to explore the joys of being kind and gentle to each other, and gain the reward of friendship.

But as always, everything had a price. She knew this. As she stared at the picture in the pool, she saw the spreading of happiness in the realm. Then, with an angry groan, she looked away.

"How can they be so happy? How can't they see the truth that's right under their noses?!" she muttered as she made her way to a window and looked at what she called 'home'.

Rocks, islands of stone and dirt were floating in the air, held together by the sheer magical power of the realm of Astra, with bizarre towers and other buildings on them. This place was the complete opposite of Equestria. Here, no rule of logic applied to the inexperienced eye. The sky was bright, yet it had an unappealing, unhealthy tone to it. With its ever changing color pattern and random weather effects, it certainly was of no appeal to the mortal eyes.

"These ignorant fools must be taught a lesson soon." she said to herself. "Unity is coming for them all!" she added with a short cackle.

She had no name. She wasn't even given much of a physical form, but she could take any. She was only a puppet, a manifestation of the Unity's will to act as a leader of sort, to voice out the will of many to the ones calling themselves 'individuals'. As the servant of the collective minds of eternal Unity, she was tasked with altering the realm of Equestria to the Unity's favor.

But she had to keep the balance. For every act of friendship and happiness, there had to be something of the opposite. A grimace, and unfriendly gesture, promises not granted and secrets not kept. By these acts, by letting the darkness in the soul of every single pony, the realm of Astra grew stronger.

As of late, however, the balance tipped. In Equestria, joy and happiness overcame the misery and sadness. Something had to be done, and for that purpose, was she created, to act before it is too late.

"Mindless ponies, thinking they can live like this forever… they don't want to notice that they are little more than slaves in the hooves of Alicorns. Who are they to rule over them? And just how dare they think their land is an example of equality?! They have no idea what it means to be equal, to be united! Each and every one of them is alone in their souls. They have no hope, and they know that. They are simply too afraid to realize."

"…it is about time we reveal the truth to them, then." a voice came from the other end of the room. She turned her glowing purple eyes to the one daring to interrupt her, but the anger quickly gave way to satisfaction. The intruder was one of her new agents, working in Equestria to plant the seeds of corruption amongst the hearts of ponies. This one in particular was of much use, since she was living with one of the realm's rulers, Princess Airan, residing in Rethien.

"Ah, the one known as Lantern to them! What is it you want?" her voice echoed in the giant area.

"I want what you promised me." Lantern spoke cooley, pumpkin orange eyes glittering as she stared at the featureless being. Chilling laughter rang throughout the arena, the figure obviously finding Lanterns request highly amusing.

"All in good time faithful one, all in good time" the shadow purred her voice almost dripping with poison.

Lantern sighed. A small voice in her mind told her what she was doing is bad. But she paid little to no attention to it. Her orange eyes rolled in a gesture of annoyance as she turned to leave. The orange and black streak in her mane seeming to move on it's own accord.

The shadowy figure laughed again turning her gaze to an orb in the corner where an almost transparent white form floated inside.

"Each moment I remain in control, has you growing weaker." She crooned to the imprisoned mare who scowled in response.

"You will not win! I'll never let you!" the mare snapped. There was bite behind her words and her expression was fierce. She snarled wordlessly, squirming and struggling as she had already been doing for what felt like hours. She grit her teeth at every movement, as her invisible bounds dig into both hair and skin. The floor beneath her lay covered in a thin layer of starlight white fur, proof of her efforts towards freedom. With one left twist, she manage to free her head.

This, however, came at a price. Her lasting endurance was not infinite. Her movement became less frequent, each attempt at freedom sapping her strength. She felt drained beyond recovery and ultimately she was left with only enough energy to gasp for air.

The shadows drew away from the figure revealing a terrible sight for the still imprisoned mare.

"It cannot be. NO! You could never..." she whispered as the figure grinned, igniting a slender horn with magic.

The mare shot upright in bed panting hard her body covered in sweat and trembling. She ran a hoof through her mane and cast her gaze about the room. It was a comforting sight to see her things where she always left them. Her golden helmet and white cape lay on the chair and her trident was on it's stand by the bed.

"An eerie dream indeed..." she muttered and kicked off her sheets before getting out of bed. She walked slowly toward the window and gazed at the land beyond the city.

"...let's hope it stays that way." a weak voice said in the deepest reaches of her mind, with sheer sarcasm in her tone, cackling evilly soon after it.


End file.
